It is never a dull day in the Hamptons. Tragedy is just another excuse to party – in the name of the dearly departed, of course, and for the protection of children in need. And speaking of children in need, once upon a time, there were two children in foster care who looked out for each other – one a pyromaniac and the other protected the firebug. This is the story of what happens to those children when they are all grown up.

The Amanda Clarke Foundation
Amanda’s body is barely cold and already the Graysons – Victoria (Madeleine Stowe) and Conrad (Henry Czerny) – are scheming to make her tragic and untimely death mean something – all to their own advantage, of course. The Amanda Clarke Foundation will raise money to help children in need, or at least that is what the Graysons will tell everyone. But the truth is they will use this charity to launder money for them to keep the Initiative’s grubby fingers from their fortune. And they are not afraid to use an innocent man to front this charity. They appoint Aiden Barry Sloane) as the Treasurer of the Foundation, much to the chagrin of their son, Daniel (Josh Bowman) who is still disgusted by the ease with which his own parents kill and dispose of anyone who gets in their way.

Welcome to the family, faux bro
We all know Emily (Emily VanCamp) had a dark past in foster care which landed her in juvie, and now we meet one of her foster brothers, Eli James (Collins Pennie), who turns up after fourteen years at the invitation of Charlotte (Christa B. Allen) during her quest to find people from Amanda’s past to attend her funeral. While Eli didn’t make it in time to attend the service, he is back to milk whatever he can out of her death. Charlotte, always desperate to get to know everything and meet everyone who has ever been a part of her half-sister’s life, quickly attaches herself to Eli, even skipping school to show him around town. Boyfriend Declan (Connor Paolo) is less trusting, and a little jealous, that Charlotte seems so enamored with this stranger.

The faux bro is a faux friend
Eli may pretend to have been a protector of Amanda during their foster care days, but the real Amanda, aka Emily, knows more than to trust him. Nolan (Gabriel Mann) asks if he’s another Tyler (remember the psychopathic social climber who ended up dead on the beach?) and when Emily replies that Eli is a wildcard, we know we should be worried. At first Emily thinks Eli doesn’t recognize her, but he quickly points out that he has seen her infinity tattoo on the inside of her wrist. There is no point in hiding her true identity from this point on so the only thing left is for him to name his price so he can get the heck out of dodge.

Money can’t buy you a chair
Emily’s checkbook has been quite busy. First she offers a quarter of a million big ones to Victoria to kick-start her Amanda Clarke Foundation charity, and also a role as co-chair of the Foundation. One would think that kind of money could buy you any seat on the board of a charity but not when the other chair is queen of the Hamptons. Sadly, an offer of a hundred grand as well as wiping out Eli’s criminal record and outstanding warrants (with thanks to Nolan’s hacking brilliance) don’t buy Emily what she wants either, which is to make Eli go away. Both Victoria and Eli take her money but she got nothing in exchange. Pretty raw deal, huh? Oddly enough, when Eli hands over the check he got from Emily, there’s no hesitation from Victoria in accepting him and announcing him as her co-chair.

Jack continues to search for the truth, the whole truth and nothing but…more lies?
Jack (Nick Wechsler) may still be grieving for his wife, but he seems more determined to remain angry at Emily for hiding Amanda’s secrets from him. He doesn’t remember who pulled him out of the water after he got shot and saved him. So he returns to the dock where he was picked up and taken to the hospital. He finds the man who owns the boat that was used to save him and it turns out some mystery man (who coincidentally meets the description of Nolan) had rented the boat to search for him, and then when it was returned covered in blood, offers to buy it outright, no questions asked. When Jack confronts Nolan about this, the Hamptons’ resident hacker convinces Jack that it was in fact Kenny Ryan who now owns the boat. Does Jack really believe this story? I mean, Kenny (JR Bourne) does not fit the man’s description of Nolan whatsoever. Besides, who would really believe the story that Kenny’s conscience got the better of him over his brother’s actions and decided to save Jack?

So, a man walks into a bar…
It may well be the start of a good joke, but in this case, the joke is all on poor Daniel, who seems to be finding solace in just getting drunk in the middle of the day. He doesn’t want to be like his parents but he knows that ruining people’s lives is in his father’s (and mother’s) DNA, and this means it’s in his too. As he is drowning his sorrows at a bar, some douche comes up to him and provokes him and suddenly the douche’s face meets Daniel’s fist, only for Aiden to stop him from pummeling the guy. And this is not the only good Samaritan act Aiden puts on to regain Daniel’s confidence. He conveniently drops a hint that Emily is still in love with Daniel – that the whole time they were dating, he knew she was still in love with her former fiancé. And before you know it, Daniel is pouring out family secrets to his one true love.

In honor of the invisible children
Someone forgot to tell Eli that there is another charity to help the Invisible Children. Maybe all his time spent traveling the world as a faux antique book dealer and running from the law has kept him from following the news. But anyway, surrounded by rich folks dying to throw money (just under five million in one night!) at another charity party to help ease their conscience, Eli makes a big show of how close he and Amanda were as foster kids, ignored by the system and being passed from one foster family to another. Emily tries to not-so-subtly use Ashley (Ashley Madekwe) to warn the Graysons against trusting Eli too much, but of course, Victoria takes any advice from Emily and does the complete opposite, and welcomes Eli with open arms. Who is going to be using who in this new partnership?

The man, the myth, the Falcon is back
Just before David Clarke’s (James Tupper) death in prison, Nolan came close to finding proof that he was framed by the Graysons with the help of a notorious hacker known as The Falcon. But instead of continuing to clear David’s name, Nolan’s efforts take a detour when young Amanda’s pyromania lands her in juvie, and David asks him to look out for her and to make sure she lives long enough to read the contents of the Infinity box, which David hands over for his safekeeping. And now, as Emily asks Nolan to use his Carrion program to break down the firewall protecting the Amanda Clarke Foundation’s bank account in an attempt to bankrupt the Graysons, they realize that there is still someone smarter than Nolan. The Falcon is back and on the Graysons’ payroll and protecting their money.

So here are some questions to theorize and ponder over till next time we meet:

· Who is the Falcon?

· Does Jack really believe Nolan’s ridiculous story that it was Kenny who saved him after he was shot by Nate?

· Is Charlotte besotted by her half-sister’s foster brother?

· What will it take to get rid of Eli? Will he sell Emily out?

· How desperate is Daniel for someone to trust that he poured out his family secrets, including the Initiative, to Emily?

· Did anyone miss hearing Ashley say “gubernatorial” this week? Written by Valerie Leung. Share your Revenge theories with her on Twitter (@valshopaholic) and read her blog LibragirlRules.com.